Season over for Oshawa Generals

Down and out

Sabrina Byrnes / Metroland

OSHAWA -- Oshawa Generals' Christian Thomas collided into Niagara IceDogs' netminder Mark Visentin, during Game 6 of the OHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal, against the Niagara IceDogs at the General Motors Centre April 1 The Generals' season came to an end after a 4-1 loss. April 1, 2012

OSHAWA -- In the end, the Niagara IceDogs were simply too much for the Oshawa Generals to handle.

The Generals battled back valiantly after getting embarrassed in the first two games of their OHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal, but the IceDogs still wrapped it up in six games, concluded by a 4-1 decision Sunday at the General Motors Centre.
David Pacan was the key figure in ending the Generals' season, scoring twice in the third period, including a back-breaking short-handed goal that snapped a 1-1 tie 1:36 into the frame.
He also added an insurance tally with 3:59 remaining and picked up an assist on Alex Friesen's opening goal 8:53 into the game.
Julian Melchiori tied the game with a power-play goal late in the first period and the Generals were very much in the game through two periods, but couldn't recover from Pacan's shorty, which beat Dan Altshuller high through a screen.
Defenceman Brock Beukeboom, an Uxbridge native, scored Niagara's final goal into an empty net.
During the latter part of the series, the Generals showed some glimpses of the team they were supposed to be this season, but finishing eighth in the conference and drawing the first-place IceDogs proved to be their undoing.
The IceDogs were simply too deep with talent and appear to be headed towards a lengthy playoff run.
One big positive for the Generals however, was the emergence of Altshuller, a 17-year-old rookie who helped get the team back into the series and showed signs of being a future star in the league.
But in the end, it was a season that ended earlier than most had expected at the outset.